Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

Founded in 1853, the <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/garden-attractions-A-Z/Herbarium.htm" target="_blank">Herbarium, Library &amp; Archives</a> building at London's luscious Kew Gardens is the world's leading center for the study of plant diversity. Since opening more than a century ago, the original building has housed a botanic library and dried plant specimens. Only recently did a need to expand the space come about, calling for a new sustainable environment that could protect the building's precious contents from fire, flood, humidity and infestation. <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " target="_blank">Edward Cullinan Architects</a> were called for the job, and the team created a new, three-story wing made from glass and locally sourced timber. Beyond being beautiful, the sustainable systems employed in both heating and cooling the building have garnered it some noteworthy green cred, including a <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://www.breeam.org/" target="_blank">BREEAM</a> 'Excellent' mark.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

Completed in 2009, the Herbarium's new glass and timber wing creates a fantastic contrast with the original red-bricked building, connected to its side.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

<a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://inhabitat.com/undulating-downland-gridshell-in-england-is-a-self-supporting-structure-built-from-local-oak/" target="_blank">Edward Cullinan Architects</a> worked closely with the botanists, librarians and staff to ensure that the design would meet the requirements of a highly specific technical brief.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

The <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://www.architecture.com/Awards/RIBAAwards/RIBAAwards.aspx" target="_blank">RIBA Award </a>winning building provides a reading room, research areas, storage vaults and a photo studio to aid digitalization of the collections.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

The dried plant specimens are stored in a cool, dark vault and the scientists bring them out into their day lit rooms to study them.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

The new Herbarium is a three-story brick clad vault enclosed by an undulating glass and wooden facade made from Western <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuja_plicata" target="_blank">Red Cedar</a> sourced sustainably from nearby <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://inhabitat.com/modern-mission-hall-house-is-clad-in-recycled-clay-tiles/" target="_blank">Sussex</a>.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

To match the exterior with the interior design, the circular Reading Room's furniture was created using bespoke joinery and the tables boast integrated lighting and IT connections.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

The dried plant specimens are stored in a cool, dark vault, and are examined by scientists in naturally day-lit rooms. As a <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://whc.unesco.org/" target="_blank">World Heritage Site</a>, a funding criteria was that the collection remain open to the public to allow visitors to enjoy Kew's priceless collection of dried plant specimens, botanic books and illustrations.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

The key sustainable feature the building maintains is the innovative way it produces cool and hot air. The primary heating and cooling source for the whole building is provided through a <a title="Kew Gardens' New Herbarium Building in London is BREEAM 'Excellent' Using Underground Cool and Hot Air " href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borehole" target="_blank">bore hole</a> based ground-source heat pump that takes renewable energy from the underground. This detail has earned the new structure a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ title.

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Edward Cullinan's Herbarium building at London's Kew Gardens takes its cool and hot air from the underground

Founded in 1853, the Herbarium, Library & Archives building at London's luscious Kew Gardens is the world's leading center for the study of plant diversity. Since opening more than a century ago, the original building has housed a botanic library and dried plant specimens. Only recently did a need to expand the space come about, calling for a new sustainable environment that could protect the building's precious contents from fire, flood, humidity and infestation. Edward Cullinan Architects were called for the job, and the team created a new, three-story wing made from glass and locally sourced timber. Beyond being beautiful, the sustainable systems employed in both heating and cooling the building have garnered it some noteworthy green cred, including a BREEAM 'Excellent' mark.